The present invention relates to protective equipment, and more particularly to protective headgear.
A various assortment of protective headgear or helmets has been proposed in the past for protecting the wearer's head in the event of a collision. Such helmets have been widely utilized by participants in a number of sports, where the possibility of head injury is great, such as football, hockey and baseball, and for other purposes, such as crash helmets. At an earlier time, it was somewhat unclear how much protection the helmets actually afforded to the user, and, if the wearer suffered a head injury in spite of the helmet, it apparently was accepted that the shock to the head resulting from the impact may have been greater than could reasonably be protected by the headgear.
More recently, technology has been applied to determine exactly what happens to the wearer's head when the helmet is subject to impact. In particular, tests have been devised to measure the forces which are actually transmitted to the head responsive to a blow against the helmet. For example, drop tests are currently being used to determine these forces. An accelerometer may be placed in a metal head form, and the helmet to be analyzed is fitted and placed on the form. The helmet and form assembly are then raised to a height above a striking surface, after which the assembly is dropped against the surface, with information from the accelerometer being recorded during this time. Of course, the assembly may be adjusted to select the desired impact point on the helmet. The data from the imput axis of the accelerometer may be translated to the vertical drop axis to determine the forces which are transmitted through the helmet to the form. In this manner, a given helmet may be analyzed to learn whether it will perform adequately under conditions of use.
It has been found that in many cases current helmets do not afford the amount of protection expected or desired. Accordingly, a considerable amount of effort has been expended to make protective headgear which laboratory tests demonstrate provide the wearer a maximum amount of protection. Additionally, other factors must be considered in arriving at a totally satisfactory helmet.
First, the helmet should be properly fitted for the wearer druing use, or the completely satisfactory test results may vary from the actual conditions when the helmet is worn in the field. Proper fitting of the helemts has been fairly difficult to attain due to the numerous head sizes which must be fitted. Of course, helmets could be tailor made for an individual, but, as a practical matter, such a procedure proves unnecessarily burdensome from a standpoint of convenience, time, and cost. Alternatively, it is desirable that the helmets may be adjustable throughout a range of sizes, particularly if the desirable force dissipating characteristics of the helmets are not compromised.
Additionally, the helmet should be comfortable when worn. If the inner portion of the helmet which contacts the wearer's head is too hard, the wearer may suffer headaches or other discomfort as a result of use, and the wearer may refuse to utilize the headgear in spite that it may be superior in all other respects. As will be seen below, the protective headgear of the present invention solves the above difficulties, and provides a helmet which is superior from the standpoint of force dissipation, comfort and fit.